***Note: Some of the drawings in this post may not display completely. Visit the link above if you would like to see them in their entirety.

Buttock, Kua and Dang

Buttocks: Follow direction of the spine Perpendicular to the ground Avoid protruding buttocks or tucking in too much – this may create tension and prevents legs from moving freely

Kua: Kua needs to be relaxed It’s purpose is to facilitate the coordination of upper and lower body movements Turning of the waist from left to right and shifting of weights in the legs rely on kua being relaxed and loose. When the kua is relaxed, the weight burden on legs increases. If legs are not strong enough, the kua will tighten. As a result, knee extend over the toes, abdominals and chest stick out, and the body leaning backwards. Relaxed kua + smooth turning of waist = smooth weight transferring. From this, upper body is able to realize lightness or solidity.

Dang: The shape of the legs when in a stance. The overall look of the stance (from pelvis downward) should be like an up-side-down ‘U’ and not like a ‘V’ shape. Muscles in the inner thigh have the feeling of slightly pushing outward. The dang should be light, flexible and relaxed. Collapsing dang: when buttocks drop below level of knees. The angle of bent legs should not be less than 90 degrees. Keeping the dang rounded and opened increases strength in the legs.

Re: Taiji Fundamentals

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:49 am

by extrajoseph

Hi BBTrip, Thank you for the informative drawings, they are a great help for the beginners and by the look of these notes Chen Yingjun is becoming a really good teacher just like his father, able to transmit the core essence of Taijiquan. The fundamentals in Chen should be the same for Yang, except in the Yang they are less visibly expressed ("softer" and more "internal", some would say), therefore they are harder to grasp for the beginners.

Re: Taiji Fundamentals

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 12:41 am

by Audi

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

Take are,Audi

Re: Taiji Fundamentals

Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 2:23 am

by BBTrip

They have updated their page. Thought some might find it of interest.

A chart progression of growth in the fundamentals of Taiji. Many informative drawings captioned with interesting insights.It’s from a Chen POV but those of other Taiji styles might want to check it out anyway.

***Note:Some of the drawings in this post may not display completely. Visit the link above if you would like to see them in their entirety.

Buttock, Kua and Dang

Buttocks: Follow direction of the spine Perpendicular to the ground Avoid protruding buttocks or tucking in too much – this may create tension and prevents legs from moving freely

Kua: Kua needs to be relaxed It’s purpose is to facilitate the coordination of upper and lower body movements Turning of the waist from left to right and shifting of weights in the legs rely on kua being relaxed and loose. When the kua is relaxed, the weight burden on legs increases. If legs are not strong enough, the kua will tighten. As a result, knee extend over the toes, abdominals and chest stick out, and the body leaning backwards. Relaxed kua + smooth turning of waist = smooth weight transferring. From this, upper body is able to realize lightness or solidity.

Dang: The shape of the legs when in a stance. The overall look of the stance (from pelvis downward) should be like an up-side-down ‘U’ and not like a ‘V’ shape. Muscles in the inner thigh have the feeling of slightly pushing outward. The dang should be light, flexible and relaxed. Collapsing dang: when buttocks drop below level of knees. The angle of bent legs should not be less than 90 degrees. Keeping the dang rounded and opened increases strength in the legs.

Re: Taiji Fundamentals

Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 7:42 pm

by Audi

Hi BB,

Thanks for posting. I find the descriptions interesting though some are a little bit difficult to relate to because of the difference in styles.

I very much like his insight into the nature of Peng energy: "Peng is a subtle storing energy that's gives all things [their] shape." Recently, I have changed my explanation of Peng 掤, which I used to relate to the homonym 棚 that can mean "shelter or shed" but now relate to the homonyms 膨 and 蓬 which can mean "to swell up" or "puff up". I think his insight is well illustrated in his section on the "Concept of Peng" where he talks about not overemphasizing the arms and instead "focusing internally." Notice the difference in the location and quantity of the shading in the illustrations. To me this simply means that Peng should come from an integrated dispersed feeling that fills the inside, rather than from a focus on the outer shell. In other words, it is the air within a basketball that gives it firmness and resilience, not the firmness of the skin of the ball.

I have a somewhat different understanding of Lü, Ji (Zi), and An, and would also contrast them differently with Peng. To me, all also imply a similar use of issuing energy that differs only in the dynamic set up with the opponent's energy.

For Peng, you float the opponent's energy away from their center or your center or both. In specific usage, it implies the sort of energy you express with the inside of the forearms as they rise to the inside or the outside of the forearms as they descend to the outside.

For Lü, you stroke along the opponent's energy to control it by lengthening it out it you side and rear. It implies the type of energy you apply with the inside of the arms along the outside of the opponents arms.

For Ji, you squeeze or pinch the opponent's energy in the middle. It implies the type of energy you would apply with the outside of your forearms bulging into the outside of your opponent's arms.

For An, you press on the opponent's energy so that it cannot come out appropriately. It implies the type of energy your palm applies as it pushes does on something to control it.

All can be used for offense, and all for defense. It is also most common to mix them together somewhat, since having only one point of contact is generally quite weak.